With recreational vehicles, such as all-terrain vehicles, utility task vehicles, marine vehicles, motorcycles, etc., most operators and other occupants will experience a jarring and jostling resulting from rough terrain, such as muddy paths, rough roads, water, such as waves, etc. Recreational and/or unexperienced occupants may not properly brace themselves for such jarring and jostling while seated, instead leaving the upper body in an unsupported, upright position, using body muscles to control the body's movement. In doing so, the muscle groups in the body are strained to hold the occupant upright while the vehicle encounters rough terrain or water. This repetitive jarring and jostling of the occupant during use of the vehicle or strained muscles after such use may leave such occupants with a bad experience from the use of the vehicle and may result in a lessening of the use of such vehicles.
More experienced users or occupants, may try to better brace themselves from such jarring and jostling while seated by having both feet firmly planted on the floor, the upper body leaned forward and both hands firmly grasping a fixed point, for example a handle, console, seat or other vehicle structure. Although this position lessens the impact of such jarring and jostling, keeping the upper body in the forward position during such jarring and jostling uses various muscle groups as it is not a natural position. Being in the forward position for periods of time can still result in soreness or fatigue which can result in professionals, e.g. racers, outdoorsmen, hunters, fishermen, etc., not being in optimal condition during later use of the vehicle and could affect performance.
During such jarring and jostling, it is not uncommon for occupants to bounce or have an up and down motion in the seat. After some length of such use, the foam in the base of the seat will begin to degrade or compress resulting in less cushioning and support and thereby allowing occupants to “bottom out” on the hard frame of the seat. Occupants may attempt to overcome the bottoming out by providing support with their legs. This can result in discomfort or pain or muscle soreness, any of which can may leave such occupants with a bad experience from the use of the vehicle and may result in a lessening of the use of such vehicles.
As such, there is a need for a seat with a back, the orientation of which that can be adjusted. There is also a need for a seat with a base, the support of which can be adjusted.
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that one or more aspects of an adjustable seat can meet certain objectives, while one or more other aspects can lead to certain other objectives. Other objects, features, benefits and advantages of an adjustable seat will be apparent in this summary and descriptions of the disclosed embodiments, and will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Such objects, features, benefits and advantages will be apparent from the above as taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures and all reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom.
In view of the many possible embodiments to which the principles of the present invention may be applied, it should be recognized that the embodiments described herein with respect to the drawing figures are meant to be illustrative only and should not be taken as limiting the scope of the invention.